Deaths Caused by Restraint Vests

To the Editor.— Patient restraint vests are widely used to prevent individuals from climbing out of or falling from beds and chairs. These devices are used principally for persons manifesting senility or dementia and they are extensively used in nursing homes. During the past two years, the Bexar County (Tex) Medical Examiner's Office has encountered four deaths caused by these vests in nursing homes in our community. Report of Cases.— Three cases involved patients strapped in bed with vest restraints, subsequently found hanging over the bed rails from the vests. One person was a 42-year-old woman with Huntington's chorea. The other two, a 91-year-old woman and a 92-year-old man, were diagnosed as being senile. These latter two patients had successfully escaped from restraint vests in the past. The fourth person, a 76-year-old woman, had been tied in a chair with a vest restraint. She had previously escaped by slipping down